11/9/16

Republican Pat Toomey has won re-election to a second term in the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, beating Democrat Katie McGinty in a down-to-the-wire race that was a key stepping stone in Republicans' drive to maintain control of the Senate.

Toomey had been one of the most vulnerable Republican senators running for re-election. The race smashed U.S. Senate campaign finance records, with spending on it passing $160 million since the beginning of last year.

A fiscal hawk, he compiled one of Congress' most conservative voting records.

Toomey, 54, leaned heavily on his willingness to buck the Republican Party, including on the hot-button issue of gun control. He fought off Democrats' efforts to tie him to GOP nominee Donald Trump, and positioned himself as the candidate more likely to seek compromise in a polarized Washington. McGinty, he had maintained, was untrustworthy and would be a "rubber stamp" for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Toomey also campaigned heavily on security issues, and pointed to his near-universal endorsement by police unions.

McGinty, who has never held an elected public office, was trying to become Pennsylvania's first female senator.